Rocket decision still weeks away, NASA chief says

Lawmakers threaten to investigate the delay

July 12, 2011|By Mark K. Matthews Orlando Sentinel

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden told Congress on Tuesday that it could be weeks — or longer — before the agency unveils the design for its next big rocket, a timeline that prompted lawmakers to threaten an investigation into the delay.

"We have waited for answers that have not come. We have pleaded for answers that have not come," said U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, the Texas Republican who chairs the House science committee. "We have run out of patience."

Hall then threatened to join a Senate inquiry into NASA's delay in releasing information about the new rocket.

"It's a shame we have to consider doing that," Hall said.

The uptick in congressional pressure comes as emotions are running high with the retirement of the space shuttle and uncertainty about plans to replace it.

Until last year, NASA planned to transition into a program that would return astronauts to the moon, but Congress and the White House cancelled the troubled Constellation project last fall after years of technical and financial problems.

Instead, lawmakers directed NASA to build a new rocket and crew capsule from pieces of the shuttle and Constellation programs and have a plan in place by last January.

More than six months later, NASA has yet to deliver that plan on the so-called Space Launch System and won't have a decision until late summer at the earliest.

"While I would hope to have a final decision to announce this summer, the absolute need to make sure our SLS program fits within our overall budget constraints suggests it could take longer," Bolden said. "We cannot rush a critical decision that will drive NASA's activities for several decades."

Cost has been a major issue for the new program ever since its inception.

In January, NASA told Congress that it could not build a new rocket and capsule by the Dec. 31, 2016, deadline it had been given. Bolden on Tuesday echoed those concerns and laid out a timeline that would have "crewed missions by the early 2020s and a visit to an asteroid in 2025."

As it stands, Bolden and top NASA officials already have settled on a vehicle design — essentially an Apollo-like crew capsule atop the shuttle's external tank, with two strap-on boosters on either side.

But Bolden said NASA is waiting on cost estimates to ensure it is affordable.

"We know this program will likely cost tens of billions of dollars over many years," he said. "This will likely be the most important decision I make as NASA administrator and I want to get it right."